--- description: Find out why 'A Night to Surrender' made the list. title: 'A Night to Surrender' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b5a4f427bf0d437/698a593c16d884031dc3ee99/A-Night-to-Surrender-Tessa-Dare.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # A Night to Surrender by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/) ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer  Tessa Dare’s 2011 _A Night to Surrender_ won a Romance Writers of America RITA Award in the best regency historical novel category. Spinster protagonist Susanna Finch has dedicated her life to making the rural seaside community of Spindle Cove a utopia for women of Regency-era England who feel like they don’t fit in. But when the Earl of Rycliff, Victor Bramwell, arrives in town with orders to recruit the local men for a militia, Finch finds herself in a turf war with the nobleman as she tries to protect the town’s way of life. Dare, a best-selling historical romance author, relishes in writing about women like Susanna who engage in behavior that would be deemed improper, per the standards of their time period. **Buy Now:** _A Night to Surrender_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780062049834 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4ePkSEZ "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/"},"headline":"A Night to Surrender","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:16:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:15.824Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b5a4f427bf0d437/698a593c16d884031dc3ee99/A-Night-to-Surrender-Tessa-Dare.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"creator":"Olivia B. Waxman","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b5a4f427bf0d437/698a593c16d884031dc3ee99/A-Night-to-Surrender-Tessa-Dare.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/","name":"A Night to Surrender"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Romance Authors Share the Steamiest Book They've Ever Read","description":"Romance authors like Emily Henry and Beverly Jenkins talk about the steamiest book they've ever read.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jXMACfdW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-30T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jXMACfdW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996621/a-night-to-surrender/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```